


Base Treachery and Other Misdemeanours

by atrocalopteryx



Category: Bleach
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-17
Updated: 2015-11-17
Packaged: 2018-05-02 03:57:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5233145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atrocalopteryx/pseuds/atrocalopteryx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Have you found yourself living under a suspicious and terrifying system of government? Do you want to complain about it? Your friends are here for you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Base Treachery and Other Misdemeanours

**Author's Note:**

> If you want some songs to listen to while you read this I recommend '16 Military Wives' by The Decemberists and 'I Don't Care' by Fall Out Boy.

On the deck outside of Shinji’s rooms in the Fifth Division barracks, at the beginning of a pleasant spring evening, Rose stretched his legs out in front of him and his spine crunched no fewer than three times. “You could take me out to better places,” he said. “We are captains now, you know, and my back is going to suffer for this.”

Shinji, positioned underneath the eaves so that the shade covered the exact left half of his body, looked over in the general direction of Rose’s back and gave it no apparent sympathy. “Get Kira to fix it for you.”

“If only he would,” Rose said, with a deep and genuine sigh. He was sighing a lot these days. “He cares so little for me. It’s so exhausting, I'm telling you, to be caught up as I am in the ligatures of love, with nothing to show for it, not even the most fleeting touch—”

Then, “How did you know he was in the Fourth Division?”

“‘Cause you told me a few times,” Shinji said. “Momo mentioned it to me too.”

To have a lieutenant who mentioned things like that to you. Who chatted. Chatted! It was unbearably sweet.

“I didn’t see her when I came through,” Rose said, “is she out?”

“She’s with her friends somewhere. Said she trusted me not to get in trouble.”

“It’s good that somebody does,” Rose said.

Shinji brushed a stray thread off his hakama. “We’re doin’ pretty good in the trustworthiness stakes, y’know,” he said. “I ain’t heard of any plans to run us back outta town.”

“I hope not,” Rose said, turning his head wistfully to one side and sighing again. “I finally have my room set up properly.”

Rose didn’t bother to question Shinji’s assumption that if there were such a plan he would hear about it. Shinji heard about a lot of things, rumours and nefarious gossip included. He was more fond of conspiracy theories but lately those had been seen as in poor taste.

“I just think,” Rose said, “that if we’re really going to do well as captains it’s probably better if the Gotei 13 don’t all think we’re some kind of danger.” He felt that the whole thing might have been easier if they as a group were at least outwardly respectable, which they often were not.

“We are some kind of danger,” Shinji said.

Rose frowned at him, which was going to be bad for his looks in the long run, but which thankfully required minimal effort due to the natural downwards slant of his eyebrows.

“And so are all the other captains,” Shinji said. He paused. “Most of the other captains.”

“Well, true,” Rose said. To think that the four of them were objectively more dangerous than any other captain or lieutenant was quite wrong; it was just that their particular brand of danger was far more obvious and generally unacceptable in the eyes of Seireitei society. Having an especially terrifying zanpakutou was one thing, but being the half-Hollow aberrations of Seireitei’s worst nightmares was quite another.

Never mind that it was entirely offensive to assume that they were liable to uncontrollably Hollowfy at any moment. The natural Soul Society aversion to Hollows was understandable, but being in control of the Hollow was what being a Visored meant. And they were still people. They still had feelings. Rose might even have had more than he did before.

“At least the authorities ain’t breathin’ down our necks,” Shinji said. “Guess they wised up that we’re here to do our fuckin’ jobs.”

Rose looked around to make sure that no one was in sight, as was customary to do when Shinji started to speculate about any governing body. “Well, we know they feel bad about the whole thing.”

“They feel bad ‘cause the whole thing made them look bad. They got us back in here partly ‘cause our divisions needed captains and partly ‘cause they knew the guys back then fucked up.”

Shinji was not fucking around, as he might have said. It made Rose miss Hiyori.

“We’re not exactly hostages to kindness, are we?” Rose asked.

“We could probably do whatever we want,” Shinji said, spreading his arms demonstratively. He got lazy and gave up halfway. “Couldn’t be any worse than shit that’s already happened.”

Rose watched sunlight ripple across the deck as a breeze rustled the leaves overhead. “I hope you’re not planning to do something drastic,” he said.

“What would I possibly do.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Orchestrate some kind of revenge plot?”

It was unlikely, because Rose had never met as lazy a person as himself until he’d met Hirako Shinji, but a lot of weird things had been going on.

“Nah,” Shinji said. “If I was gonna double-cross the boss I’d tell you guys about it. I don’t have time for that kinda shit anyway.”

“Now you sound like Ichigo.”

Shinji laughed. “Say what you want about Ichigo, but he sure fucked up a few things around here.”

From what they’d heard, Ichigo had burst into Soul Society one day and turned everything summarily on its head. He’d apparently successfully fought a series of high-ranking officers, disrupted an execution, and generally made people change their minds about things, which was probably a more impressive achievement than the first two. They’d initially heard about all of it from Urahara and had been astonished to find out that it was completely true.

“I almost can’t believe how much of an effect he’s had,” Rose said.

“Me neither. Ain’t a lot cookin’ in his kitchen sometimes.”

“I think he does his best,” Rose said. What a sweet child Ichigo Kurosaki was. Rose felt distinctly protective of him.

“’Course he does,” Shinji said. “Made things easier for us, I can tell ya that. Imagine walkin’ in here with Hollow in your reiatsu before Ichigo came in with a couple different powers at once. People woulda run right off. None of ‘em back for seconds and even less for thirds.”

Rose nodded. He’d been concerned about that. He’d been concerned about a lot of things, but this had been one of the more significant ones. “This is all rather more relaxed than I expected.”

“Brave new world,” Shinji said. “I’m pretty disappointed I didn’t get to see some of the shit that went down though.”

“Like what, a Kuchiki ending up going for a humanitarian case over the law?”

“Small change,” Shinji said. “I wish I’d been at Rukia’s execution so I could watch Kyouraku and Ukitake fuck it up.”

Rose had not been the only person to express some initial disbelief at that story. “What a sight that must have been. I’m still so amazed whenever I think about it.”

“Heard it from three people so it must be true,” Shinji said. He shook his head. “Imagine Ukitake committing a crime.”

Rose knew better than to assume that anyone was completely innocent of anything, but Ukitake was as lovely and outwardly conventional as he’d always been and still had that air of goodness and purity about him. Maybe it was all the white.

“You know what that says to me, though,” Rose said, “that Ukitake and Kyouraku had to break the law to get some kind of justice, and as recently as that.”

“Yep,” Shinji said.

It was endlessly depressing, but unsurprising. At this point Rose knew the judicial systems quite well and had nothing to say in their defence.

“D’you think the new Central 46 are gonna keep their heads out of their asses,” Shinji said.

The best they could hope for was that the new Central 46 would be at least a marginal improvement, as the question of the position of the old Central 46’s heads was not in fact a question at all. This was apparent now to everyone, but was perhaps felt most keenly by their group and by all the others who’d been the victims of a systematic course of treachery and deception. The number of people that that included should have been the first sign.

“I really hope so,” Rose said. “If there’s going to be an obvious problem anywhere, I expect it might be with them.”

Shinji nodded. “Ain’t gonna be with the actual people ‘round here.”

Rose crossed one leg over the other. The general condition of his back did not improve. “You used to talk about changing things,” he said. “I take it you still have designs for that.”

This was where Rose was expecting Shinji to say something that would get him looked at even more suspiciously. He was pretty much correct.

“I hope someone stages a coup and takes the whole system down in one go,” Shinji said.

“The absolute entire thing?”

“‘Course. All the Soul King bullshit and everything. I didn’t vote for him.”

Rose almost laughed, but it was all too bleak. “I suppose you don’t think it’s worth it trying to adjust the system’s philosophy first,” he said.

“Adjust.”

“Alright, drastically alter.”

“Nah,” Shinji said. “Just get a bit of democracy in there, that should help.”

It almost felt like they’d been spoiled, living for a hundred years with a harsh and intolerant justice system hanging only indirectly over their heads.

The fact was that Soul Society’s system of government and, indeed, the very principles and standards by which it operated, were very, very bad. Rose was quite lacking in knowledge of what exact situations its flaws had created—there were bound to be a great many he’d never heard of—but what he’d seen was enough to really offend his sense of justice. And he was used to having his sense of justice offended.

“It sounds plausible,” Rose said. “It’s hard to imagine the people in charge actually listening to anyone.”

“Maybe one day,” Shinji said, staring into the distance. He still looked skeptical. “Don’t let ya dreams be dreams.”

Rose had never actually dreamed of dramatic political reform, but it was only a matter of time. He hadn’t gotten too preoccupied with it while they’d been in Karakura, for obvious reasons, but now that they were back and the entire system was staring them in the collective face there was a much deeper sense of discontent. It was just difficult not to be constantly concerned when you knew about some things that were or had been going on.

Near-successful unjust executions were one thing, but not much could really shock you after you’d been told about the Maggots’ Nest. They all had to walk around like they’d never heard of it, lest they be thrown into it, because while they had avoided it for the moment the very suggestion of political dissent was apparently enough to convict on. Oh, that’s just Soul Society again, locking up people who even think about questioning the rules. The unfairness of it. The absolute tyranny.

Oh, the humanity. Rose had a creeping sense of dread again.

He sighed. “Do you really think things will improve?”

“Probably,” Shinji said. “They gotta replace the people in charge eventually, right? I think all this Ichigo stuff is gonna help give people the right ideas. And,” he pointed with his index finger vertical, “we’re hopefully gonna be around for a while and I ain’t gonna sit through a bunch of conservative bullshit the whole time.”

Rose still wasn’t convinced that Shinji intended to just watch this happen with no personal input, but he let it slide.

“Well, be careful who you mention that kind of thing to,” Rose said. “People might think you’re up to something.”

Shinji winked at him.

Rose couldn’t really imagine what Shinji was actually going to do. He assumed that there were a decent number of people around who could be appealed to with a few words in the right key, and having as many people as possible on your side was probably good if you were looking at developing a new world order. He would really have to check with Shinji on a possible time frame for his reform plans.

As for Rose himself, he just wanted to look after his Division. If he happened to influence them into unprecedented levels of social progressiveness then that was just how things would be.

He wasn’t too worried about it all, at the end of the day. They had a lot of time.


End file.
